Already the Number #1 Cause of Mortality Worldwide (63%)*
Dramatically Impacts Both Productivity and Quality of Life
Estimated to Cost 48% of Global GDPs by 2030*
Most Chronic Diseases are Increasing in Prevalence
45.3% of all US adults age 65 and above have two or more chronic diseases: a 20% increase from the previous decade.*
*Joint 2011 report: Harvard School of Public Health and World Economic Forum
and NCHS Data Brief Number 100, July 2012
Noncommunicable Diseases and Conditions (NCDs)
are the Greatest Threat to Sustainable Healthcare

Scientific Challenge
If you could pick ONE sign that best
distinguishes a lifetime of health
from one filled with disease
……what would that be????
[Challenge was issued for an invited paper for a
special issue of the physics journal ENTROPY]

The Complete Human: Three Domains of Life
Eukaryota
Archaea
Bacteria
Majority-
Microbial
Humans
(based on cell
and gene
numbers)
Domains of Life
Genomes
First
~ 25,000 genes
Approximately
90% microbial
by cell number
Second
~ 10 million genes
Superorganism
Mammalian
Microbial
Eukaryotes

Earlier Microbial Partners
Lynn Marguluis, famed biologist (former spouse of Carl Sagan),
published her endosymbiosis theory in 1967concerning the bacterial
origins of both mitochondria and chloroplasts.
Crisp et al. Genome Biology 2015, 16:50
New examples of horizontally transferred genes were recently identified in humans.
Apparently, our second genome can become part of our first genome.

My Personal Superorganism Later-Life Training
Problem:
30 years of multiple rounds of antibiotics.
each year.
Solution:Adjusted my microbiome, adjusted what I fed it.
Best year for my health in at least 30 years.
Qualifications: I am not a MD. This is my personal
story and it is not intended to be nor is it
medical advice.

Three Take-Home Points
Failure to self-complete in the newborn may be the single greatest health risk across a lifetime. We need microbiome seeding on every birth plan and active management of our “second genome” (i.e., seed, feed, protect).
The immune system and the microbiome need to co-mature in a narrow window of development or persistent immune dysfunction and elevated risk of NCDs are likely.
Safety needs to be based on the whole human. It is the superorganism that needs protection.

Ithaca Water Buffalo
Ithaca Water Buffalo maintains a herd of 100 female animals.
Water Buffalo produce about 2 gallons of milk a day.
Milk is heated and pasteurized (170? F for 30 min)
Milk is cooled to 100?F
Yogurt Culture is added
Cultured Milk is placed in the cup
Milk is incubated ay 100?F for ~ 12 h
“Probiotic” Bacteria ferment the milk sugar (lactose) into acid (lactic acid)
Yogurt is blast chilled to 36? F to “set” the solid
Yogurt is boxed and shipped to the store